Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate the deflection of sodium atoms by a pulsed standing wave of high intensity. The advantage in using pulsed lasers lies in the increased strength of interaction between the atom and the light field. At intensities available with typical pulsed dye lasers, the rate of momentum transfer from the light field to the atomic center-of-mass can be as large as 10¹⁰m/s². The motion of thermal atoms can thus be altered significantly even during a short pulse, typically of a few nanoseconds duration. In this case, the effects of spontaneous emission are also greatly reduced. Pulsed lasers could thus be useful for control-ling the motion of molecules and multilevel atoms for which the current cw components of atom optics are not effective.

© 1998 IEEE